The department of International Languages offers programmes in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and German. Students may choose any one of the language areas as their major area of study or they may combine it with other disciplines. There is an expanding number of cross-listed courses or cognates from other disciplines such as History, Women's Studies, Music, Anthropology and Philosophy, which are credited towards a language major or minor. The study of any language involves learning about other cultures and, in doing so, students will also gain insights into their own language and culture.